Pronunciation of S

Start first lesson

1. Lesson 1

14 questions

2. Lesson 2

12 questions

3. Lesson 3

12 questions

Explanation

Quick Answer

The letter sin Spanish is pronounced like the letter s in English, for example in words such as sound and mustard. Compare the sound of the s in sound and mustard and their Spanish translations, sonidoand mostaza.

The Sound of the Letter “S”

“S” Is a Consonant

The letter s represents the Spanish consonant sound, or phoneme, /s/. When a consonant sound is uttered, the flow of air out of the mouth is partially or completely blocked at some point.

The name of this letter is pronounced ese.

How to Pronounce "S" in Spanish

The Spanish s is alveolar, which means it is pronounced with the tip of the tongue near or touching the gums of the upper teeth. The air is uninterruptedly expelled through a small gap between the tongue and the gums. To describe this constant flow of air in a consonant, linguists use the term fricative, or fricativain Spanish.

Additionally, the vocal cords do not vibrate when uttering s, so linguists classify it as voiceless, or sordain Spanish. Check out how the s is pronounced in these words: saco(sack), sí(yes), asado(grilled), esperar(to wait), ensalada(salad), and además(besides).

Is the Spanish "S" Similar to the English "S"?

Yes, it’s almost identical to the English s in same or this. Compare the s in same and this to the Spanish s found in their translations, mismoand este.

In general, the pronunciation of s does not change across the Spanish-speaking world, but there are some important dialectal variations, such as the aspirated or silent s and the ceceo. Read on to learn more!

The Aspirated or Silent “S”

In some areas, such as Chile and parts of the Caribbean or Spain, you may hear native speakers replace the sound of s at the end of a syllable or word with a soft aspirated sound that is similar to the English h of hello. In this case, the s in a word like oscuro(dark) may be aspirated and pronounced /ohkúɾo/. In some parts, this sound becomes so soft that it's lost altogether, so you may hear a word like detrás(behind) pronounced /detɾá/.

So, What Is “Ceceo”?

Ceceo is the term linguists use to refer to the pronunciation of the letter s in Spanish like the th in thing in English. This sound, or phoneme, is represented by the symbol /θ/. It is used by native speakers from certain areas of Spain, particularly Andalusia (a region in southern Spain). Be prepared to hear some Andalusian Spanish speakers pronounce paso(step) as /páθo/ rather than the standard /páso/.

Words That Start with an “S” + a Consonant

Words beginning with an s and followed by a consonant are not common in Spanish. They’re usually loanwords that Spanish has borrowed from other languages, like English. Because Spanish speakers aren’t used to beginning words like this, they will normally place an imaginary e before the s to facilitate its pronunciation. For that reason, the word sketch(sketch) is pronounced /eskéʧ/ in Spanish. This has brought about Hispanic variant spellings for some of these foreign loanwords, for example: espray(spray).

Examples

Let’s look at some examples of words containing the letter s in different word positions and letter combinations.

Spanish	English	Position-Combination
sabio	wise	beginning of word + vowel
seta	mushroom	beginning of word + vowel
siete	seven	beginning of word + vowel
sordo	deaf	beginning of word + vowel
subir	to go up	beginning of word + vowel
Asia	Asia	inside word + between vowels
hermosura	beauty	inside word + between vowels
mesa	table	inside word + between vowels
bolsa	bag	inside word + beginning of syllable
consejo	advice	inside word + beginning of syllable
sonrisa	smile	inside word + beginning of syllable
ajustado	tight	inside word + end of syllable
destino	destiny	inside word + end of syllable
obstruir	to block	inside word + end of syllable
adiós	goodbye	end of word
caos	chaos	end of word
martes	Tuesday	end of word

One Letter, One Sound

The pronunciation of the letter s has some dialectal variations, as explained above, but its standard pronunciation varies very little throughout the Spanish-speaking world. There shouldn’t be much difference between the way soso(dull) sounds in Guadalajara, Cali, or Arequipa.